Technology generally benefits society. But, unfortunately, new technology has equipped domestic abusers and stalkers with an extremely powerful tool … GPS devices.

Before the ubiquity of the GPS, a would-be abuser / stalker generally had to actually follow their target, or get someone else to do it for them. Surveillance equipment or electronic (“bugs”) monitoring simply wasn’t accessible or viable for most domestic abusers / stalkers.

That reality gave the intended stalking victim a fighting chance of spotting a person fixated on them, or their agent, in the act of stalking them.

The GPS has changed all that.

Now, a domestic abuser / stalker can readily slap a GPS device on their target’s car, on the sly, and their target will likely be none the wiser.

Making it harder and harder for victims of domestic violence and / or stalking to find a haven from their stalkers / attackers … or even to evade them for an all-too-brief respite of peace and solitude.

It appears that only a couple of states criminalize use of GPS devices to track a vehicle’s movement without the owner’s consent. (And, of course, in the case of domestic abusers / stalkers, the term “owner” may be deemed to include them, thereby satisfying consent and decriminalizing their conduct.)

Read more in this Wall Street Journal piece: Private GPS Use Benefits Alzheimer’s Patients – And Jealous Spouses Too.